Wednesday, July 27, 2016

In
a previous postI shared a report from the July issue of Trains magazine by columnist Don
Phillips about the possibility of moving The
Canadian to the CPR’s more southerly route through northern Ontario along
Lake Superior.

In the
August issue of Trains author Bob
Johnston has a multipage article on the future of VIA Rail, including a short
bit on this possibility.

In
the article, Johnston quotes VIA Rail President Yves Desjardins-Siciliano as
saying: “We have not approached them (the CPR) formally on that because it is
not a service defining component, but it’s a better route, so that is always a
possibility.”

In
the article Johnston also notes that VIA Rail pays CN, the railway on which
tracks it runs for most of its trip from Toronto to Vancouver, less than $20,000
per trip.

Johnston
also notes that if The Canadian was
moved to the CPR tracks from CN in northern Ontario, “the Sudbury-White River Rail
Diesel Cars that currently run on the route would presumably move to the CN,
filling the transportation void over a much longer stretch of otherwise
inaccessible settlements and First Nation commerce centres.”

So—no
confirmation of the change, but no rejection yet, either. As before, we can
only hope.

In
the report, I cited an article in Railway
Agewhich indicated that VIA Rail CEO Yves
Desjardins-Siciliano was open to the idea.

I heard nothing more about it until
today, when I read Don Phillips’ column in the July, 2016 issue of Trains.

According to Phillips, it has a chance of happening.

“A spectacular re-route of the
Vancouver-Toronto Canadian may take
place in the next year,” he wrote.

The reason? That stretch of CPR trackage along Lake Superior—the former and traditional route of the Canadian—is under-utilized since the railway is now sending most of its trains through
Chicago.

“With little hope for traffic growth,” said Phillips, "[Hunter] Harrison has approved switching the Canadian to the route.”

VIA Rail in Thunder Bay.

Added Phillips: "Harrison would likely gain a lot of revenue from VIA, which is the reason he approved the plan in the first place."Such a move would not only take VIA Rail
off the more heavily-used CN route to the north, it would also permit VIA Rail
to serve more communities, including Thunder Bay—not to mention providing
passengers which a much more scenic journey along the lake.

“The re-route is not yet a solid
agreement,” said Phillips. “But it seems to have a better than even chance.”

I searched the Web for additional
verification for the re-routing, but could only find an item from a Q & A
at VIA
Rail’sannual meeting in March, 2015.

In the meeting, the question was asked
if VIA Rail would ever return to the Lake Superior route. The answer wasn’t no.

“VIA Rail is currently
considering this route,” came the reply. “Track availability and track state
are some of the operational considerations that are being reviewed prior to
making a final decision.”

It's been 26 years since VIA Rail ran that route along the lake. Maybe, just maybe, it will happen again.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

It’s summertime, so it’s a perfect time for re-runs and my rewind series of posts—like this one from 2012. It came to mind after I bumped into Geoff Brown recently; Geoff is the owner of this Great Canadian Model Railroad. The layout is in storage now; I hope it can be made available to the public again one day. In the meantime, you can enjoy it again here!

This great Canadian model railroad is a little different than most.

For starters, it’s over 1,900 kilometres (over 1,100 miles) from home. Second, I don’t know very much about its creators. Third, although it represents logging in B.C., it’s now on display on the Canadian prairies.

Here’s the story: A local modeler, Geoff Brown, decided he wanted an ON30 layout. While talking about it with a friend in B.C., he was told that just such a layout was for sale in the city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island. Geoff bought it, and had it transported to Winnipeg, where it has been set up at Elmwood Hobby Works—which is where I took photos of it.

Overview of left side of layout.

The 3 foot wide by 16 foot long layout—called the Miller Creek Forestry Museum—was started by Dave Quissy and Ed Lewis.

From what Geoff told me, it took them just over a year to build. The layout, which is in four four-foot sections, uses a frame made from 3/8th square steel; the sub base is made of 3/8th inch plywood.
﻿

Looking to the right side of the layout.

The scenery is made from 2 inch Styrofoam, the track is handlaid code 100 and the turnouts were built by Wayne Paulson and Dan Rossell.

The trees were made from wire and sisal rope, painted and then detailed with Woodland Scenics ground foam. The bigger trees were made by Dave Tomljenovich. The backdrop is hand-painted.

A mirror makes the engine house look bigger.

All the buildings were scratchbuilt from styrene and wood. The water tank is a replica of a real tank that was used on Vancouver Island.

The layout won best of show at a regional meet in Nanaimo, B.C.—it’s easy to see why!

According to Geoff, the layout became available when one of the owners needed to move out of his house. I’m sorry he had to give it up, but happy for those of us who live in Winnipeg!

I don't have space on this blog post for all the photos I shot; you can find more pictures of the Miller Creek Forestry Museum on my Flickr page.

Friday, July 8, 2016

Back in 2012 I came across this amazing Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific O scale layout being constructed by a custom layout builder by the name of Scale Art Model Services. On the company's website (now called Scale Art Parts), they note that the layout was unfinished as of 2015, although progress was still slowly being made. Finished or not, it is still a magnificent layout and undertaking. A link to more photos and info is below. Enjoy!

There’s only one word for this layout: “Wow!”

OK—maybe two: “Holy cow!”

This custom made O scale two-rail layout fills a 4,000 square foot room. It is based on the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific. a short 167-mile line owned by Canadian National that runs from Fort Frances, Ont. to Duluth, Minn. (But nowhere near the Pacific, unless you count CN’s connection to the west coast.)

The layout, which is reportedly in Nebraska, is being built by Scale Model Services of Colorado. It is housed in a 100 by 59 foot building and features nearly 3,000 feet of track and 150 turnouts.

Each of the three yards on the layout can hold upwards of 150 cars, and each yard features a six-stall roundhouse. Many of the structures are unique and will be scratch-built, with depots built to Canadian National standard designs.

The layout represents the 1950s. The majority of the steam locos are re-detailed Weaver 2-8-0 Consolidations. The RS-11s are also Weaver. Construction has been going on for two-and-a-half years.

Says the builder: “This is truly a labor of love for all involved. We are building this layout as if it is in our own basement, with great attention to detail and deliberate planning and model work . . . The final railroad will be a fine example of 2 rail O scale modeling that reflects both the owners’ and my own vision.”

I have a soft spot in my heart for the DW&P, since my CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota is inspired by it. Like this layout, the M & M Sub. runs from Winnipeg (staging) through Fort Francis to Duluth (also staging). My effort is more freelanced, however—starting with the idea that the line is owned by CP Rail—and much, much smaller.

About Me

Click here for a topical index to the blog.
Click here for an index by year to the blog.
Click here for an index of Great Canadian Model Railroads.
Click here for an overview of the layout from the December, 2009 Railroad Model Craftsman.
Click here to view videos of the layout on YouTube.
Click here for a track plan.